PHILADELPHIA — It’s not a given anymore, like it has been previously, that Nicolas Deslauriers will be in the Philadelphia Flyers’ lineup. In a 10-game stretch sandwiched around the All-Star break, in fact, Deslauriers was a healthy scratch for six of them.
But there wasn’t much doubt he’d be in on Saturday at Wells Fargo Center against the New York Rangers, with the towering Matt Rempe on the other side. It didn’t take long for the two tough guys to drop the gloves, either, as they staged what might have been the fight of the NHL season so far just three minutes into the opening frame of the Rangers’ eventual 2-1 win.
It was about 60 seconds of pure mayhem. Each tough guy landed blows, and neither was willing to surrender.
The six-foot-one, 218-pound Deslauriers initiated it with the six-foot-seven, 241-pound Rempe, who was playing in just his fourth NHL game, and had already been in one controversy when he bloodied up New Jersey’s Nathan Bastian with a hard check in a game against the Devils on Thursday.
One of the BEST hockey fights you’ll ever see 😳🔥
Matt Rempe vs Nicolas Deslauriers 👊 pic.twitter.com/Vuy7lp1g3R
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) February 24, 2024
“I saw him kind of lurking in the warm-ups,” Deslauriers said. “I’m a guy that doesn’t take no for an answer often, so just went (to him) politely and said, ‘Are we going to do this?’ And, there it is.”
Said Rempe: “He asked me in warmups. Real tough customer, again, and I said, ‘Hell yeah, let’s go.’ We were throwing bombs, a long fight. It was awesome. Got the juices flowing. It was unreal.”
The linesmen seemed content to let the fight conclude organically. Deslauriers, who was much worse for wear after the bout than Rempe was, didn’t have any issue with that.
“I’ve been asked this question a lot, it happened to me a couple times, when the helmets come off, they come in,” he said. “I get the full concussion protocols, if somebody falls and everything. We were two grown men trying to do our job and I think we respect each other well. … I think they did a good job. It was a long one, and it was fun.”
Flyers coach John Tortorella summed it up succinctly: “That’s a good old-fashioned hockey fight.”
For Deslauriers, it was his 50th game this season. He’s still looking for his first goal, to go with three assists and 77 penalty minutes. It’s only a recent development that he’s come out of the lineup from time to time, as he played in each of the Flyers’ first 36 games of the season through Dec. 31.
Like any hockey player, he doesn’t enjoy watching. But, he understands that the Flyers have overachieved this season, and his particular set of skills might not always be needed.
“It’s a complete different year,” he said. “Yes, we are young and everything, but we’re playing well. We’ve put ourselves in this spot, and no offense, I know at the age I am there’s going to be some nights I’m not in. It’s easy when you win and you have a good group of guys like this. Not lying, it sucks not playing, but at the same time when you have success and the ultimate goal is to push ourselves to make the playoffs — whatever it takes, I’m always ready.”
Tortorella has said previously this season that it’s not easy to take Deslauriers, who is immensely popular with his teammates, out of the lineup. The 33-year-old is a big part of the dressing room that the coach has labeled as a key to the team’s rebuild being ahead of schedule.
“He’s a big part of our chemistry,” Tortorella said. “He does what he has to do, how he prepares for a game, what he’s probably going to have to do each and every game. I think the guys respect him. The coaching staff certainly does. It’s a huge part of camaraderie with him.”
Scott Laughton, who said he had a “front row seat” for the fight, echoed his coach.
“That stuff goes a long way throughout a room,” Laughton said. “I don’t know if I played with a tougher guy than that. Him and (Wayne Simmonds) were neck and neck there, but D-Lo is all about the boys. I’ve got so much, so much respect for him.”
Goalie Sam Ersson, who made 22 saves, said: “He’s an absolute animal, warrior out there for us. I wouldn’t want to fight him.”
Although the Flyers lost, it wasn’t because of a lack of effort or energy. Missing leading scorer Travis Konecny with an upper-body injury, the Flyers outshot the Rangers 41-24. Tyson Foerster tied the game early in the third period, while Rempe’s redirection off of his foot about four minutes later — his first career NHL goal — proved to be the game-winner. The Rangers have won a franchise record 10 in a row.
Still, the Flyers kept pushing in the third. Sean Couturier nearly tied it with five seconds left, but pushed a backhand just wide.
“Controlled most of the play,” Laughton said. “Second period a little lull, but honestly we came out hard. We finished hard. Maybe a bounce here or there and it’s a tie game, so guys battled hard for each other tonight. Take a lot of positives out of it. Obviously you want two points, but we stuck with it and we’ve got a big game (Sunday in Pittsburgh).”
Deslauriers will likely dress for that one, too. And he’s not going to change anything.
“I try to bring what I bring,” he said. “I know a lot of people are saying it’s getting out of the league, but I think it’s much needed in those circumstances. At the end of the day, we played a good game and were disappointed we didn’t get two points.”
(Photo of Nicolas Deslauriers: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)
